Monday, September 23, 2013

September 2, 2013

Zions camp went pretty good. It was the first time this was done her down in Huambo so there are some things we could have done better. But over all we had 25 people that came. And yes, we were pretty much in charge of it. We did almost everything. We played lots of games that are applicable to creating Zion/ A place of unity/ a people of unity. At the end of the day we split everybody up into 4 groups and did rotations. Each one of us missionaries took a topic and gave a short 20-25 min lesson and discussion with each group, then at the end we had a testimony meeting. It was a little strange because more that half of the boys weren't members and they didn't know how to bear testimony, but they tried. It was great!! But half way through the camp Elder Clifford got sick. So he was down for the count. And then Saturday night he spent the night in the bathroom vomiting and having diarrhea. I felt really bad for him, It was miserable. And so I spent the night on the phone with Sister Thompson and making him concoctions of salt and sugar for him to drink so he wouldn't get dehydrated. He didn't like them very much but he had to do it. We were going to go to the hospital at like 23 o'clock but the hospital didn't have the things that we needed. We needed a clinic but they were all closed. So we just ended up going Sunday morning to get him tested for Malaria, but he came back in the negative, so they think he has Typhoid. But he is doing a lot better, The fever, chills, and headache are gone. So he is recovering pretty fast.

But we didn't get a chance to visit Daniel this week because he was out of town . I want to go talk to him so bad. Without fail, this week we will see him. But our área is struggling still. We are still doing a lot of finding. I did have a bitter sweet experience yesterday though. We went on a division so I could get out of the house (I was there with Elder Clifford all day and didn't go to church) But on our way home we ran into some drunk guys. They stopped us and started asking us weird questions. Like "Where is the Garden of Eden?" One of the drunk guys was like "Oohh I know I know... its in Iraq" It was pretty funny, one because of his answer and two because he was answering the questino of his friend directed at us. But then one of them started asking us questions trying to get us to mess up and trying to stump us. So I said to Elder Castleton, lets go, I don't want to talk to these drunk guys. The one man got fuming mad and started chewing me out. He layed into me telling me that I as a servant of the Lord can't judge people and tell them they are drunkard just because they are drinking beer. He got me fuming mad. He yelled at me for about 1 min saying vulgar things and insults that would make your hair stand on end. I snapped. I actually swung a punch in the direction of this mans face with the intent of railing on him. But my fist stopped inches in front of his face and my finger stuck out and was almost touching his nose. I was confused and stunned for a min that my fist didn't make contact. So I told him to stop talking and we walked away as they were laughing at us. I do feel ashamed that I wanted to hit him; but I was physically constrained. I learned a lesson. And he was partly right, I did judge him, and just because somebody is drinking doesn't mean I shouldn't talk to them. Every single one of these people are all children of God. So I felt very bad that I said I didn't want to talk to him because he was drunk. I have no right to not share the gospel because someone is doing something I dont like. In fact it is those people that we are here to help the most.

But this week we also ate ginnipig (guinea pig) -don't know how to spell it. A member that lives in a mud hut invited us over for lunch. He killed the animal right in front of our eyes, gutted it and cooked it over the stove. I got to eat the head. I almost gagged but I put it down.